Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Trading 3.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) shares traded up 3.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $85.05 and last traded at $85.34. 1,115,199 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,538,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Company Profile

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.